PM for Addicts: Am I Screwed?

[el_em_en_oh]

I'm a recovering addict with chronic pain. Screwed, yes I know, thanks. My chronic pain stems from over 20 years of kidney-stones and the surgeries related to removing them. Bottom line is, I have pain, and living with it on a day-to-day basis is a little too much.

I hold down a solid 8:00-5:00 and am a responsible, tax-paying, productive member of society.I have a wonderful. loving wife that's stuck with me through my rehab and subsequent continued recovery. My parents and my sister are well aware of what I've been through and continue to go through. (I only mention this to rub your nose in it... kidding. Just giving you a little background on me so you know what kind of personality I am)

My Urologist sent me to a PM doctor because he didn't want to keep prescribing me 10/325's. I got to the PM, and given my chronic pain history and almost daily passage of stones (some are small enough for me to pass without surgery, but they still hurt) he immediately prescribed me 120x10mg Opana IR's for my chronic kidney pain (not stone related... just years of trauma to the kidney from the repeated procedures) and 80x8mg Diladid's for the acute stone passage.

Long story short, I became hooked and had to go to rehab. Memorial Hermann~PaRC (Houston Texas). AWESOME place to get your head screwed back on. Highly recommend it to anyone in need of a rehab facility. There were folks there from all over the US too, so don't be afraid to travel. I know it's in the top-5 recovery centers in the nation, but I digress...

Now that I'm off the pain killers, my pain still remains.

QUESTION: Is there a pain killer that I can take, as an addict, that will help me with my CHRONIC pain and not put me back where I was before? I'm not so worried about my acute pain, because if I get a stone these days, I head to the ER with my wife and have my drugs administered under supervision. It's my CHRONIC pain that I need help with.

Is there help for addicts with chronic pain, or are we all just f*cked?

[gab12]

Hello my husband is currently going through this addiction...worse part is he snorts them and can't get off of them...can anyone please help us?? I've tried everything...he spends a lot of out money on these things he always promises he will quite and he doesn't seem like he is...he is still lieing about doing sooo...sad part is...his mom helps him get them also watches him snort them??? What can I do??? I'm begging for some help for him and a quick way for him to get off...its hurting our marriage terribly!

[lmccoy]

Please be carefull with OTC pain meds if your kidneys are already in rough shape. I can't take them because my liver is no good. Don't know for sure, but I think its the same thing with kidneys. I  ended up asking my husband to put the pain dope in a lock box. Just having to ask for it was akward enough to keep me from doing it unless I was really hurting. He didn't like playing drug jailer, but will help any way he can.

[el_em_en_oh]

Fortunately for me, came clean about my problem myself without anyone having to prod me, poke me, force me or MAKE me. I knew I was taking my pain meds incorrectly, and I sought help. I first hit my Urologist who put me onto a good rehab facility. Then, I came clean to my wife, who lo & behold, already knew there was a problem (she just couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was).

I think the fact that I sought help, was very forthcoming with my Urologist, and was more than willing to go into a 60-day rehab program, helped a lot in finding this other PMdoc. Not to mention the fact that my MAIN rehab doctor is the one who recommended her as a good alternative to the PMdoc's out there that are so free-wheeling with their Rx pads these days.

I really don't want to lie and tell you guys that I didn't enjoy a PART of taking my narcotics... but I have to tell you, that once the addiction REALLY settled in, and I realized that my body couldn't do without them, I sunk to some pretty low lows. It took a while for me to get even a modicum of sanity back into my life, even after rehab. All the while, my Urologist & my wife were there supporting me and hand'holding, to a point. Now, I'm opiate-free and semi-loving life. If I could get rid of my 2-3 kidney-stones a month (sometimes a lot more), and this nagging 4-5 (pain-level) constant pain from my renal cysts... I'd be golden!!!

I know a constant 4-5 doesn't sound like a lot to some of you 'back problem' folks, and I sympathize with you from the very bottom of my heart, but I can't handle it as well as some of you folks seem to. I've read stories on here that make my toes curl and my heart break, at the same time. Some of you folks are troopers, dealing with STEADY/CONSTANT 7-8 all the time, with very little relief even WITH opiates??? Not quite sure how you do it, as a measly 4-5 is knocking the wind out of me.

Fight the good fight, Brothers & Sisters. I'd love to say that there's a pharmaceutical company out there working on a cure-all for pain that's non-addictive, but I fear that the narcotic pain-killer market and associated sub-markets are so very, very profitable, that we won't see it in our lifetime due to the financial implications for creating a medicine of that nature.

[skmedlin27703]

I am happy to hear there is a PM doctor that will treat you after going through rehab and such.  In the state where I live if you mess up and get caught take recreational drugs or abusing your prescribed medicine then you cannot get any more medicine period & forever in this state by another physician.  You may get lucky and your doctor not discharge you and keep you on your meds as you earn back his trust (I speak from experience) but you cannot change doctors, ever, they won't accept you as a patient.. its like you are black listed.  Good Luck!

When I was in the hospital having ankle fusion surgery they gave me a powerful anti-inflammatory that worked wonders.  I remember someone telling me it could only be dispensed in the OR because it is so powerful and hard on your system.  One would think maybe you could take a small amount of it for some relief,  I will do my best to find out what it is called...

Good luck! Be careful and hang in there!

[el_em_en_oh]

Thanks for the insight and advice. I have a new PMdoc that I'm going to start seeing this Monday (17th), who I was referred to by my Addictionologist. She doesn't immediately resort to narcotics, which is a good thing for me, so we'll see what she has to say. Apparently, there are some pretty good non-narcotic pain medications out there, so we'll see what pans out.

Glad I'm not totally ******, but I still can't help but feel like I'm in a bit of a dire situation/circumstance. Yes, my wife is supportive, but whenever I mention that I'm in pain, she gives me a bit of a side-ways glance with THAT look in her eye. We've talked about it before, and she says she'd try not to look at me in THAT way, but I understand that she's afraid I'm going to revert back to past behavior.

I try and bury my pain as much as possible, but sometimes I just can't deal with it, in my head, and I get into a bad mood, or take it out on some poor unsuspecting soul, or am just a plain ole' a$$hole. My tollerance for pain is very high, as I've been dealing wih this for so long, so I'm thinking just a nudge (of a non-narcotic) will do. Might have to try the 800mg of Ibuprofin that gnarly_1 mentioned.

Thanks all...

[gnarly_1]

HI I suffered with chronic back pain for over 16yrs it wasn't till I was off the narcotics that my pain became manageable...your pain clock sorta resets itself once your clean for a wile and now the 800mg ibuprofin the dr gives me actually work...I know where talking about 2 different kinds of pain here and i know kidney stones are really tuff with the pain aspect but you may want to try some of the old and new non/narcotic stuff out there b/4 going back it has worked for me and I was up to 150ml of methadone with no releaf
just a thought ...I hope you get your pain under control...for me the narcotics are no longer an option...good luck and God bless....Gnarly    

[Dav125]

Might be just ******,lol. Good old straight english I see. I really don't have any suggestions but wanted to comment..Hey, you got a good spirit about this and I can relate to that struggle..Trying to hold a smile in the thick of things..

Sorry to hear about the problem. I can't imagine what that must be like..Best wishes.

[vicki595]

Hi~  Yes,there's help for you. No one should suffer with chronic pain. You just have to be really careful.  Talk with your doctor about this. Maybe a shorter acting pain med,
that you can control a little better,would be in order. The thing is,you can't go crazy with them. LOL    Limit yourself to the prescribed amt. per day and have your wife set them out for you. You can always take less and only when needed. But,get your doctor on board with you.   It's terrific that you got off the meds. Now you can truly evaluate your pain.
Also,there is a pain management forum you can check out,if you want to. You're not ******...you just need to be careful.

Vicki